Tree path 7 levels King's Pawn Game › King's Knight Opening › Normal Variation › Italian Game › Giuoco Piano › Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo › Italian Four Knights Variation
C50

Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights Variation

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Overview

Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights Variation is a named branch in the Open Games group of chess theory, classified under ECO C50.

The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.

It begins with 9 plies and takes 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 to reach the canonical position.

In the opening tree, this line branches off from Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, part of the broader King's Pawn Game system.

It continues primarily into one named line, Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Canal Variation.

Use the board to walk through every move, check how the position has scored on Lichess, or take it head-to-head against Stockfish.

ECO code
C50
Group
Open Games (C)
Plies
9
Parent
Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo
Direct variations
1

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Statistics from Lichess

5,861,336 games · White 49.4% / Draw 5.1% / Black 45.6%

MovesGamesW / D / B
d62,106,347
h61,690,339
O-O1,574,360
a6172,681
Ng4155,108
Nd438,341
Na535,822
d523,744

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 02:06:02

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Variations (1)